BB G1: Louisiana 4, UC Irvine 7

[LifeTimeCajun]

Here is what I have taken away in the first two games of the season, now realize this might not play out this way over the course of the season:

#1--First and foremost we are better defensively. This team was a trainwreck on defense last year, they would make some incredible plays and then some of the most bonehead plays I have ever seen. They have 1 error through the first 2 games. That is good. They just look crisper in the field.

#2. We can hit. This team is only batting .217 through the first 2 games, but you can see this team can hit and they will hit homeruns. We are going to be fine with the bats, this is a trademark of Matt Deggs teams.

#3. We are deep. We have started 7 players that have started both games outside of pitchers, but here are some of the guys that have either started or played at some point. Jonathan Brandon, Warner Rincones, Bobby Lada, Will Veillon, CJ Willis and Conor Higgs. These are all guys that are expected to make contributions this year. That is a total of 13 position players that we will see and that does not include Trey LaFleur who I think will become a very good bench player for us and get a few starts as well.

#4. We are deep out of the pen as well. We have used a total of 7 pitchers in 2 games and we have not seen all of the potential arm talent yet. We will have the chance to really move some guys in situational pitching most of the season as long as the pen stays healthy.

#5. Starting pitching is the biggest question mark for me. Shifflet I think will be fine and I saw some good things for Peyton Havard yesterday, but I don't think we will have those dominant Friday Saturday guys this year, which means we will have to rely on that bullpen.

#6. We can run. Marusak is ridiculously fast and we all know that Tyler Robertson can run, but we are fast at a number of positions. We are going to get thrown out allot but that is only because we are going to run allot. We are going to be aggressive on the base paths and at the plate.

#7. Bobby Lada looks good at 2nd base, I think he is much more comfortable there. I was talking to someone Friday night and the point was made if you have a D1 SS that can move to 2nd base, then you have a really good 2nd baseman.

#8. Kyle Debarge is good, really good and we won't see how good until later in the season as he gets more and more comfortable at the D1 level. But he is good.

#9. Conner Kimple is seeing the ball pretty good right now. I hope he can keep it up.

#10. Tyler Robertson might be the best athlete on this team. That kid is ridiculous both in the OF and at 3rd base. He has to be in the line up somewhere everyday.

Bonus #11 and #12.

Roccaforte when he gets it going is going to help this team tremendously. We know he can hit, once he starts this lineup will be good, really good.

Julian Brock has struggled a little behind the plate with pitches in the dirt. Nothing desastorous yet, but we got spoiled last year at catcher both hitting and fielding. I'm hoping JB will be good, but that is one position that I am worried about. But man is he a big kid.

Pretty good assessment after two games. We do have some depth. Julian does not seem to receive the ball very well, or atleast he hasnt so far. I know he was crossed up a few times yesterday. Im still getting use to Deggs philosophies vs Robes philosophies. Im still not bunting TR in the first inning of a game but i understand i guess. I think hes still trying to forge the idea of “you gonna do it my way” with this team. Anyway, yesterday we were better than Friday

[Rougarou]

A third baseman failed to make a play in the opening game of the season. Conclusion - this entire team lacks fundamentals that a little league team has. Result - extremely sharp and fundamentally sound defense in the game the following day. Lesson to be learned - forming broad conclusions after the first game of the season is unwise.

[babysitter]

get used to it. 80% of the folks on this board don't have a baseball mentality and look at it like it's football. Drives me nuts.

Amen Amen Amen